RMIT ABC Fact Check ABC News, 11 Sept 19, “…… Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull chipped in to the debate with a recent tweet claiming: “The bottom line is renewables + storage are cheaper than new coal let alone the loopy current fad of nuclear power which is the current weapon of mass distraction for the backbench.”

Is new generation from renewables plus storage cheaper than new coal or nuclear generation? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.

The verdictMr Turnbull’s claim is a fair call.

There is some uncertainty around cost estimates for different power generation technologies.

Under current policy settings and economic conditions, it is generally cheaper to produce electricity from wind or solar sources than it would be using a new coal or nuclear plant, with or without “storage”……

‘Bold’ scheme launches to power every property on SA’s Eyre Peninsula with solar ABC Eyre Peninsula ByLucy Robinson and Emma Pedler 6 Sept 19, An ambitious plan to power every property in one region of South Australia with solar has been labelled an Australian first — but experts are divided over whether it will work.

Key points:

The Eyre Peninsula in SA has been plagued by blackouts and a new Community Solar Scheme is rolling out to boost energy security in the region

The scheme includes finance solutions and free quotes to help people access the technology

SA Power Networks said the current energy network in SA has “limited capacity to support solar” across the state

The think-tank’s latest National Energy Emissions Audit found that for 44 hours during the month of July, South Australia generated enough wind and solar energy to power 100 per cent of its own demand, with some left over for export to eastern states.

The Institute’s climate and energy director, Richie Merzian, said the power grid in SA is effectively eliminating the need for so-called “baseload” supply, the type typically supplied by coal or nuclear.

What high renewables don’t need is a baseload type of energy, so a consistent supply of energy that doesn’t ramp up or ramp down to meet peak demand,” he said.

“That usually happens when you have those extremely hot days in summer that are becoming more common.

“What our audit shows is the windows where you need that peak demand are few, but that’s really where the additional support needs to come and that won’t be provided by a baseload support like nuclear.”

He said the other issue with nuclear energy was the cost and timeframe needed to build a nuclear power station.

“It takes a long time to build and it doesn’t complement high levels of renewables which is what we’re seeing in South Australia and the direction we’re going in in other states,” he said.

Earlier this month, Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor announced the potential for nuclear energy would be examined by a parliamentary inquiry, but insisted Australia’s moratorium on nuclear energy would remain in place.

The parliamentary inquiry is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

The Australia Institute’s audit acknowledged that South Australia’s high renewable energy output had forced the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to regularly intervene in that state’s market to maintain system security of the grid.

AEMO does so by directing gas generators to run or directing windfarms to curtail their output, or both, when the level of wind energy is deemed a risk to the stable operation of the grid.

But, according to the institute, AEMO has been gradually reducing such interventions as it gains more experience dealing with the high renewable energy mix.

SA is setting a ‘real example’

Mr Merzian said the latest audit had looked at South Australia in particular and had shown it was setting a great example for other states in terms of renewable energy.

“What we found is that for nine of the last 18 months, half of all the energy supplied in South Australia has been from renewable generation, including rooftop solar,” he said.

“That means that South Australia has been able to operate for a good chunk of the last year and a half with at least 50 per cent of its energy coming from wind and solar.

“That’s impressive and that’s the highest in the country and is a real example for where most of the states are going to go.”

He said Victoria and Queensland both had ambitious renewable energy targets and while New South Wales did not have a renewable energy target at state level, it would soon be the largest generator of renewable energy.

Renewable supply meeting demand

Mr Merzian said one prime example from the audit was that for almost 50 hours, the supply of wind and solar power in South Australia was equal with the amount of energy demand.

“Over the last month there were 44 hours in total where the state was generating enough wind and solar that is equal to what it actually required as an energy demand,” he said.

“Not only is South Australia a great example for the rest of the country, it’s also a great example globally.”

He said South Australia did not have the same energy security from coal and gas as other states and had become a “champion” for renewable energy because of it.

“South Australia has really had to charge on its own to build that internal reliability from its own energy sources and that’s really helped it champion its current make up of energy,” he said.

“It also puts a lot of pressure on that transmission link between South Australia and Victoria.

“If South Australia is going to continue to evolve, it’s important that we continue to build on these transmission links and infrastructure.”

A 2006 report on nuclear power led by Ziggy Switkowski suggested Australia could have up to 25 reactors providing over a third of the country’s electricity by 2050.

we’ve been able to show (many published studies now) that 100 per cent renewable systems are technically achievable, cost-effective (possibly cheaper than maintaining a fossil fuel system, depending on cost assumptions) and reliable, without having to resort to nuclear power.

Strategic placement of wind and solar plants to take advantage of synoptic weather patterns, combined with pumped hydro energy storage, will require significant investment, and more importantly, intelligent long-term energy and climate policy.

Should Australia be investing in nuclear energy? https://lens.monash.edu/@technology/2019/08/07/1376072/should-australia-be-investing-in-nuclear-energy The Australian government is launching an inquiry into the possibility of building a nuclear power industry in Australia. Some will see this as a good thing – another low-carbon tool in the toolbox that we need to combat climate change; others will see it as a dangerous path to go down with the (difficult to quantify) risks of a nuclear accident and issues around dealing with radioactive waste.

There are questions about how long it might take to get a nuclear power station planned, built and operational (maybe as long as 20 years), not to mention that a change of legislation is required before a nuclear plant can even begin to be built. And then there’s the question of cost. Continue reading →

Frustrated by stagnant policy at the federal level, Australian communities are looking elsewhere for responses to climate change.

Businesses, communities and, increasingly, local governments are stepping up to the plate.

Noosa council declared a climate emergency to send a strong message, according to the mayor.

As the closest tier of government to the people, it’s our responsibility to listen to the concerns of residents, and they are demanding a healthy and resilient future for their children and grandchildren.

The concerns of our communities are not being heard by the national decision-makers. Local governments have no choice but to act as climate advocates for their communities and thus take matters into their own hands.

That’s why we in Noosa shire have set ourselves a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2026 – and our community has jumped on board.

Our modelling shows that, if action is not taken to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, a much larger proportion of our residential and commercial properties will be within the storm tide inundation zone in the year 2100.

In other words, with a projected sea-level rise of 0.8 metres and intensifying weather events, many properties could be flooded in a significant storm or else subject to coastal erosion. We need to plan for this now, not wait until it’s too late.

Noosa recently became the first Queensland council to declare a climate emergency, joining 847 other government jurisdictions across the world who have already done so. We want to send a strong message to higher levels of government that this is the most serious issue facing humankind.

Noosa council is rolling out solar panels and battery storage, adopting a wide range of energy efficiency measures and tackling methane emissions from our landfill. And we are working with our community to reduce emissions at the business and household level. Of course, there is much more to be done. But we’re not alone.

We’re just one of many councils across the country who are rising to the challenge of climate change. From the Huon Valley in Tasmania to Port Douglas in northern Queensland, councils are working together through alliances such as the Cities Power Partnership.

We need to learn from each other and share our knowledge because we’re all in this together. Every local government wants to see sustainable, healthy communities that thrive in the future. And, like it or not, the future is renewable energy. Tony Wellington is the Mayor of Noosa Shire Council

By Rhiannon Tuffield 20 July 19, A solar farm in northern Victoria will soon generate enough electricity to power Melbourne’s entire tram network.

The 128-megawatt solar farm near Numurkah, north of Shepparton, took less than a year to build and will use more than 300,000 panels to power the city’s trams.

Key points:

Melbourne’s tram network is set to be powered by the state’s largest solar farm

The solar facility sits on 500 hectares of land once used for grazing cattle

More than 300,000 panels will put 255,000 megawatt hours of electricity into the national power grid annually

It is one of two solar farms supplying renewable energy to the network, and will generate approximately 255,000 megawatt hours of electricity into the national grid each year.

Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio said the project was the largest in the state.

“The Numurkah solar farm will play an important role in supporting the transformation of our energy system towards clean, renewable energy and reaching our renewable energy target,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.

Farm built in record time

Based just outside of Numurkah in the tiny town of Drumanure, the farm spans 500 hectares of land once used for cattle grazing and cropping.

Minister van Holst Pellekaan described energy efficiency as the “first fuel” because the cheapest source of energy is cutting energy waste.

The call has been warmly welcomed by the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC).

EEC CEO, Luke Menzel, said energy efficiency is a “no brainer” measure that could unite energy ministers around the country because it lowers both energy bills and emissions.

“Energy efficiency is the single, most powerful tool we have to cut energy bills, improve energy security and address climate change.

“That’s why Minister van Holst Pellekaan’s call for the COAG Energy Council to raise the ambition of the National Energy Productivity Plan is spot on.”

“We are already behind on our modest, aspirational target to improve energy productivity by 40 per cent by 2030.

“That puts as well behind our global competitors, and means our energy bills and our emissions are both higher than they need to be,” said Menzel.

Governments around the world are focusing on energy efficiency as a crucial part of their energy policy. This week, the EEC released a new report that reveals that if Australia adopted leading international practices in energy efficiency, it could:

Slash the energy bills of households and businesses by $7.7 billion a year

Create 120,000 extra jobs

Meet half of Australia’s commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030.

“The Minister proposed that state governments identify policies and programs that have already driven big increases in energy efficiency so they can be scaled up across the country,” said Mr Menzel.

“It is a breath of fresh air, and an early sign that Australia is ready to catch up to the world on energy efficiency.”

Enormous lithium waste dump plan shows how shamefully backward we are SMH, Emma Young, 25 June 19 Emma Young covers breaking news with a focus on science and environment, health and social justice for WAtoday. We are all – well, all of us who are privileged enough – existing on a spectrum somewhere between “concerned” and “downright panicking” about human impact on the environment.

We look forward to the day our economy transitions to 100 per cent renewable energy, the sun and wind power our homes and lithium batteries store this energy to be used when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining.But here’s the rub: the lithium used to make these batteries must be torn from underground, just like oil, gas and coal.

Western Australia holds some of the world’s richest known lithium deposits and now has an emerging industry to process that lithium here, not just ship it to China as previously done.

It’s part of a plan to make us more than just the world’s quarry; a bigger player in an industry promising big money, and bring jobs and industry to the South West.

But we have run up against a reality, in the very recognisable area of the Ferguson Valley: a reality predictable, yet startling.

Lithium mining will leave its own scars on a landscape already littered with tens of thousands of abandoned mining voids, pits, equipment and piles of tailings – and create its own waste.

In WA’s South West, processing of spodumene ore from the Greenbushes lithium mine will result in 600,000 tonnes per year of waste material being dumped – or ‘stacked’, if you want the euphemism – only 3.5km outside the charming little town of Dardanup.

Let me repeat that: 600,000 tonnes per year.

The existing landfill there, where Cleanaway has applied to take the spodumene tailings to, is already highly visible from the road as you drive towards the region’s flagship wineries.

The application has offended the residents who already put up with dust, rubbish and runoff from the existing and already enormous landfill site.

And it’s not just sand and dirt. It’s waste of a kind so new to Australia that they had to get samples from China to find out what to classify it as.

Cleanaway submitted to the EPA that it was inert and non-toxic waste.

Yet no sustainable market exists for its reuse.

“By storing tailings in dedicated storage cells, in the event a sustainable market for reuse was developed, the material might one day be recovered,” it submitted, optimistically, to the Environment Protection Authority considering its proposal.

Somehow, I find it hard to believe that it is any miner or processor’s priority to find or develop such a market.

It’s ironic, perhaps, that in an election cycle where a number of regional Queenslanders voted for the promise of blue-collar jobs, backing the party that backed the Adani coal project, renewables generated more than 13,000 actual jobs in construction, with a lot of that activity in north Queensland.

Cowling says as a corporate player in the energy market, it is clear why the Morrison government needs to step back into the frame: “You wouldn’t dream of government pulling out of the planning of roads, or where you put an airport, and Australia’s electricity grid is more complex than those things.

“Imagine if we left it to the market to dispatch police or ambulances – we wouldn’t do it, but we are close to that with electricity.”

Dan Van Holst Pellekaan, the Liberal energy minister, is talking about South Australia hitting 100% net renewables by the 2030s. When asked to explain what that means, he tells Guardian Australia “producing more renewable energy in South Australia than we need for our own consumption and exporting the surplus”.

There is no talk of coal, apart from the inevitability of its displacement.

The South Australian renewables export plan relies on a new interconnector with New South Wales. Van Holst Pellekaan says if the proposed interconnector is approved, there are opportunities to construct large-scale solar and wind farms in the north-east of the state, on pastoral land, adjacent to the transmission equipment. “Then we start to displace coal in NSW,” he says. “It’s not just about a bit of renewable energy making a difference … that’s where you start to get a really big win on emissions reduction.”

But pushing ahead with that kind of progress is much easier if there’s a national framework driving the transition. Post-election, Van Holst Pellekaan wants Canberra back at the table being collaborative, implementing a coherent energy policy.

What the South Australian doesn’t say, but is obvious to people who know how the Coag energy council works, is the states can force this issue if they choose to.

If they can agree among themselves about what needs to happen, they can create a framework setting out the rules of the road even if the commonwealth resists.

Clean energy found to be a ‘pathway to prosperity’ for Northern Territory, Renewable energy is not only a money-spinner for the NT, it can also help mining industries expand, a new report says, Guardian, Adam Morton@adamlmorton 20 Jun 2019 Energy development in the Northern Territory is a typically Australian story: it is backing fossil fuels – in this case gas – when it could, as one of the sunniest places on Earth, be reaping economic and environmental benefits from renewable energy.

That is the message from a report that makes the alternative case, suggesting embracing clean energy could dramatically expand the electricity, mining and mineral processing industries while reducing living costs.

It says the NT economy could be transformed through incentives for renewable-powered manufacturing and downstream minerals processing, targets for mines to transition to 100% clean energy and electric machinery by 2030 and support for Indigenous communities to be equity partners in zero-carbon developments. It calls on the NT and federal governments to fund common infrastructure to turn what is known as the10-gigawatt vision into a reality – for example, transmission lines connecting Darwin and Alice Springs to allow clean energy developments in remote locations.

Eytan Lenko, chairman of the thinktank Beyond Zero Emissions, commissioned the report while living in Darwin in 2018 after seeing divisions in the community between people concerned about the health of the economy and those opposed to fracking. He says the full plan would cost businesses about $20bn out to 2030 on today’s prices, though the scale of the investment is expected to fall as clean tech becomes cheaper. It estimates it could create more than 8,000 jobs and yield more than $2bn in annual export revenue.

Toxic waste: Lynas Corporation and the downside of renewable energy, Independent Australia, 28 April 2019In some cases, renewable energy can have profoundly harmful environmental effects if not managed correctly, writes Noel Wauchope.AUSTRALIA’S LYNAS CORPORATION is currently under the business and political spotlight. The current controversy over Lynas rare earth elements company is a wake-up call to an area of vulnerability in renewable technologies – the radioactive pollution produced by developing the rare earth elements essential for today’s hi-tech devices. Electric cars, batteries, energy efficient lighting, smartphones, solar panels, wind turbines and so on all need some of the 17 mineral elements classed as rare earth. The mining and processing of this produces radioactive trash.

Environmentalists, in their enthusiasm for renewable energy, seem unaware of this fact, while they rightly condemn coal and nuclear power, for their toxic by-products.

Australia’s Lynas Corporation has two major rare earth facilities — mining at Mount Weld, Western Australia, and processing at Kuantan, Malaysia. For years, there’s been a smouldering controversy going on in Malaysia, over the radioactive wastes produced by the refining facility at Kuantan.

Now, this has come to a head. On 17th April, the Malaysian Government insisted that Lynas Corp must remove more than 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste from the country, for its licence to be renewed in September.

Australian Government legislation and policy prohibits the import of radioactive waste. However, some categories of radioactive waste are exempt from this law, if they contain very low levels of radioactivity.

Here’s where it all gets terribly complicated.

Wesfarmers wants to take over Lynas. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is examining this, and especially Wesfarmers’ involvement with the Malaysian government. The Age on 16 April, reported that Prime Minister Mahathir, following discussions with Wesfarmers, announced that a company interested in acquiring Lynas had promised to extract the radioactive waste before exporting the ore to Malaysia.

All this raises the question of exactly what would an Australian company, such as Wesfarmers, do with that radioactive waste? This is a thorny problem. And what would Lynas do about their current problem?……

culture and history really have their impact, precisely in Malaysia’s experience of rare earth processing. Even if the Lynas waste really is only slightly radioactive, Malaysians remember the environmental and health disaster of Bukit Merah; where, early this century, rare earth processing left a toxic wasteland.

China’s rare earth element processing disaster in Inner Mongolia is better known, an environmental catastrophe from the 1960s which lingers today. Modern processing has improved safety in waste management. In relation to nuclear power, there is an abundance of information on radioactive waste management, for China and for other countries. However, there’s little or no information that’s easily available to specifically discuss radioactive waste from rare earth processing.

What is clear, is that the production of the world’s hi-tech devices is not a simple matter as far as the environment goes. Climate change activists, anti-nuclear activists and environmentalists in general can keep on promoting renewable energy and electric cars.

But they seem to be blind to the total picture, which includes the downside. Obviously, it is necessary to ensure safer disposal of the trash from rare earth mining and processing. A better idea is to develop the design of devices so that the minerals can be retrieved from them and recycled, thus greatly eliminating the need for mining rare earth. And this is beginning to happen. …..

Energy conservation is the biggest factor in the change that is needed. Social change, however difficult that will be, is going to be the most important answer — the transition from a consumer society to a conserver society.

By Dominique Bayens 31 Mar 19 A fight for safe drinking water at Buttah Windee in Western Australia has been a fight for the survival of the community, and a battle they are proud to have won on their own.

Key points:

Six solar hydropanels have been installed in the small WA community, capturing 900 litres of water a month from the air

The community had discovered its water supply contained uranium more than twice the national health standard, and the State Government deemed it too expensive to address

With the help of crowdfunding and technology donated by a WA company, the residents of the community no longer need to live elsewhere

The remote Aboriginal community is 760 kilometres north-east of Perth on the outskirts of Meekatharra.

Almost a decade ago, resident Andrew Binsiar discovered the community’s water was tainted with naturally occurring uranium at more than twice the national health standard.

“I was actually very surprised,” he said.

“You’d imagine people would test the water for human consumption before people are allowed to drink it.”

Unable to drink the community’s tap water, most of the 50 people who lived at Buttah Windee left.

Too expensive to fix: State Government

But for Andrew Binsiar and his wife Janine, leaving the home where they had raised their five children was not an option.

He turned to the State Government for help, but was told fixing the water supply would be too expensive.

“They come out and put up ‘do not drink the water’ signs and that was their solution to it,” Mr Binsiar said.

The State Government offered to move the remaining residents into state housing in Meekatharra, but Mr Binsiar was apprehensive about exposing his family to the town’s social issues.

“We knocked them back … for the simple reason I’d already been there and done that. My life changed when I moved here,” he said.

“I wasn’t a very good father when I lived in Meeka.”

Solar hydropanels pull water from air

Almost a decade on, Buttah Windee is the first remote Aboriginal community in Australia to use innovative technology for its water supply.

Six solar hydropanels have been installed at the outback community, donated by a WA company who heard about the community’s plight and wanted to help out.

Director of Wilco Electrical Frank Mitchell said the units captured water from the air and produced up to 900 litres of water a month.

“Those fans, you can hear them whirring away, are just drawing in air all day, all around, and the piece of material inside collects … the moisture in the air, then condenses down into the tank where it’s got a pump straight out to the tap,” he said.

Mr Binsiar said it was a simple idea, which should be introduced to all remote communities.

“Water is a basic human right that everyone deserves,” he said.

“It could mean better health for your children … I would guarantee that most communities have bad water.”

Crowdfunding rallies support

The near decade-long battle for clean drinking water has not come easily for the Buttah Windee residents, with Mr Binsiar turning to crowdfunding as a last resort.

Word spread quickly when Mr Binsiar began the fundraising campaign last year, and people from across Australia donated nearly $26,000 in three months.

“It was a huge success. The Australian public have been awesome,” he said.

Mr Binsiar used the funds to install a reverse osmosis water treatment plant.

“Reverse osmosis takes out all the contaminants in the water … on the back end of it, it puts the minerals your body needs back into the water,” he said.

“They’ve given us a chance where no-one else would and we are really proud of what we have done here.”

Barramundi fish farm to boost employment

The two separate systems now supply the community with safe drinking water and enough water to run a small barramundi fish farm.

Mr Binsiar and several residents built the fish farm hoping it would eventually provide local employment and a potential source of income. “Hopefully we can continue on and make it bigger and provide this region with fresh barramundi,” he said.

“I’d like to welcome everyone out to Buttah Windee and come and look at the work we do.”

Mr Daley linked his “solar schools package” to the recent student strike over climate change inaction, and said the policy would help teach students about renewable energy.

“As we saw at rallies across the country on Friday, the next generation is demanding real action on climate change,” Mr Daley said.

“Putting solar panels on schools will help students further their knowledge about renewable energy, as well as bring down their school’s power bills and reduce emissions.”

Under Labor’s plan, solar panels would be installed at 350 government schools. The $100 million package would be funded as part of the Labor’s $800 million “cool schools” policy to install airconditioning in every single classroom in the state.

Mr Daley’s announcement comes after he publicly backed the striking school students during a speech earlier in the week, describing their actions as a “demonstration of young leadership”.

His endorsement drew fire from Premier Gladys Berejiklian who said she was “appalled” the alternate premier was encouraging students to skip school.

Repeating this item. What a pity that the excellent full article has been removed from the Australian government website!

Why we must act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Australian Government 8 Dec 09 Despite world attention, humans emit more greenhouse gases every year than they did the year before. It’s a situation that Australia needs to help turn around if we don’t want to bear the brunt of climate change, says Chief Scientist Professor Penny Sackett……

…..The Greenhouse Effect
The sun continuously bathes the Earth with energy in the form of sunlight. Much of this energy is absorbed by the Earth, and then emitted as infrared radiation, or heat. Greenhouse gases prevent the Earth from discarding as much of this heat as it otherwise would back into space.

Without naturally occurring greenhouse gases, the Earth would be a much colder place, inhospitable to modern human existence. But by the same token, the additional greenhouse gases added to this store by humans is slowly increasing the average temperature of the Earth system.

Due to the quantity in which it is emitted by humans, its longevity in the atmosphere, and its effects in trapping heat, carbon dioxide is the most important of the greenhouse gases currently causing changes in the Earth’s climate……

In Australia, extreme fire danger days are already becoming more numerous in many parts of the country, and floods and cyclones more intense.

Research by the CSIRO indicates that the frequency of days with very high and extreme Forest Fire Danger Index ratings is likely to increase by 15 to 70 per cent by 2050 in southeast Australia…..

FEDERALSubmissions about the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Kimba or the Flinders Ranges. The Standing Committee on Environment and Energy are accepting submissions to the ‘Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia’ until 16 September 2019. Please write your own submission or use FOE’s online proforma.

Nuclear facilities, including power stations and radioactive waste dumps, are now banned in Queensland.

Nuclear facilities banned under the Act include:

·nuclear reactors (whether used to generate electricity or not);

·uranium conversion and enrichment plants;

·nuclear fuel fabrication plants;

·spent fuel processing plants; and

·facilities used to store or dispose of material associated with the nuclear fuel cycle e.g. radioactive waste material.

Exemptions under the legislation include facilities for the storage or disposal of waste material resulting from research or medical purposes, and the operation of a nuclear-powered vessel.

1 FEDERALSubmissions about the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Kimba or the Flinders Ranges. The Standing Committee on Environment and Energy are accepting submissions to the ‘Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia’ until 16 September 2019. Please write your own submission or use FOE’s online proforma.

Australia has long rejected nuclear power, and it is banned in Federal and State laws. The nuclear lobby is out to first repeal those laws, and then to get the Australian government to commit to buying probably large numbers of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) . This could mean first importing plutonium and/or enriched uranium, as some reactor models, (thorium ones) require these to get the fission process started. That would, in effect, mean importing nuclear wastes.

There’s an all-too short period for people to send in Submissions to the 4 Parliamentary Inquiries now in progress.